Present techniques used to produce a CO chemical laser involve reacting O.sub.2 +CS.sub.2 or decomposing CS.sub.2 in presence of CO.sub.2. These reactions have complex chemical kinetics and high transfer of energy to the reaction medium producing high temperatures and inefficient amounts of excited CO to lase. Also, any unreacted CS.sub.2 present produces fairly strong relaxation of the CO. No lasing has been observed below .about.V=10 of the CO molecule in an uncooled chamber. This gives a frequency .gtoreq.5.3 .mu.m. When techniques are used to cool the lasing chamber then somewhat lower vibrational levels are involved in the lasing, but even then the lowest vibrational level is .gtoreq.4 and the frequency is .gtoreq.5 .mu.m.
Advantageous would be a method to produce an excited radical which is reactive with a gaseous premixed reactant species to produce a vibrational excited compound that lases. A particular advantage is recognized for a method whereby the disadvantages of high temperature reactions are obviated by making a system operable at room temperature. The advantages of lasing at room temperature after meeting the requirements of obtaining homogeneity of the premixed reactant species are therefore numerous.
Therefore, an object of this invention is to provide an admixture which can be premixed at room temperature after proper conditioning of the system which is not reactive until the admixture is irradiated with a CO.sub.2 laser thereby causing a dissociation reaction.
A further object of this invention is to provide a chemical CO laser that is obtained by irradiating a mixture of CSCl.sub.2 +O.sub.2 in a laser cavity which effects the dissociation of CSCl.sub.2 to produce the CS* radical in an excited state which subsequently reacts with the O.sub.2 present to produce CO in an excited vibrational state which lases.